Dear Sarah,
I agree with Kristina and Jeanne that "palindrome" itself is not a
mathematical concept necessary for students to know, but it can provide you
with a resource for having students investigate and practice other vital
concepts and procedures. My fifth graders get much more practice adding to
find palindromes than they would if I gave them a page of problems from a
worksheet or a book. Here is what they do:
Pick any two-digit number (for example, 65). Reverse the digits (56). Add
the two amounts together (65 + 56). You get 121, which is a palindrome.
That is a one-step palindrome. Some numbers take a little longer, some a
lot longer... If you take 79 and add 97, you get 176. Now reverse those
digits and add 671. How many steps until you get a palindrome?
Try it and see.
-Gail, for the T2T service